Computer-based education (CBE) holds significant promise for instructing individuals using educational programs implemented via computers instead of human instructors. In its simplest form, such CBE may present educational material in a traditional linear format of a human lecturer (for example, pre-recorded lectures to be played by the software) or such software may adopt a more complex organizational structure of interlinked audio and visual materials navigated by the student under computer supervision. Often computer-based educational programs provide a framework that includes practice exercises and tests and will modify the educational program based on the results of those exercises and tests.
Computer-based education can greatly expand access to high-quality educational materials prepared by talented educators and can leverage the efforts of skilled educators beyond the scope normally possible with an individual lecturer/student model. Nevertheless computer-based education is not yet as effective as the best human tutors.